The Caroline County Planning Commission on Oct. 16 deferred action on SO012025, a proposed amendment to the county Subdivision Ordinance that would tighten family-division rules, set minimum lot sizes and require new standards for access drives and bonds.

Commissioners and staff debated draft language for more than an hour, focusing on a proposed six-inch base of 21A gravel for 20-foot access drives, a five-year ownership eligibility requirement for subdividers, a 10-year restriction on voluntary transfer of family-division lots and other measures the county says are intended to reduce abuse of the family-division process.

The proposed ordinance would define “immediate family,” add a “utility lot” type, require digital plan submissions, update acceptable sureties to include certified checks, cash escrows and letters of credit, and move administrative powers from the planning commission to a designated subdivision agent in order to conform to changes in the Code of Virginia.

Debate centered on access-drive construction and who should bear the cost. Staff said the draft requires a 20-foot travelway with a six-inch layer of 21A gravel at the time a building permit is applied for; commissioners questioned whether that depth would price out low-income households and small developments. Multiple commissioners proposed reducing the requirement to three inches for up to three houses and reserving the full (VDOT-equivalent) private-road standard for larger or four-or-more-lot situations. Commissioners also discussed requiring a road-maintenance agreement recorded with plats.

Commissioners and staff clarified other provisions: a minimum family-division lot size of 2 acres; parent tract minimums tied to the RP zoning district; a minimum ownership requirement of five years for the grantor to be eligible to subdivide for family, and a restriction that a family-division lot may not be voluntarily transferred to a non-family member for 10 years unless an exception is granted. Staff said the county will retain the ability to grant exceptions in extraordinary hardship cases, and noted the commission previously directed several of the draft restrictions.

Staff also summarized enforcement and surety provisions: penalties carried forward in the draft classify violations as misdemeanors punishable by fines “not less than $10 nor more than $250,” and the draft says “each day during which such violation occurs shall constitute a separate violation,” language commissioners asked staff and the county attorney to clarify.

After discussion, and with several commissioner amendments and clarifications still pending, Doctor Horton moved to defer SO012025 to the next regular meeting to allow staff and the county attorney to redraft access-drive and related language. Mister Tingler seconded; the commission voted to defer the measure.

The commission closed the public hearing on SO012025 after no members of the public spoke and scheduled continued review at the next meeting.

Implementation and next steps: staff will revise the draft to reflect the commission’s direction — including options for a three-inch requirement for limited situations, clarification of whether the trigger is lots or completed houses, and explicit cross-references to the exceptions procedure — and present the revised text at a future meeting for action.